Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 73
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 74
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 148]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 181]
Notice (8): Undefined variable: urlPrefix [APP/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp, line 8]technology/app-to-report-air-pollution-4680408.html"/> Technology | App to report air pollution | Im4change.org
Resource centre on India's rural distress
 
 

App to report air pollution

-The Telegraph

New Delhi: An environmental panel set up by the Supreme Court today launched an app through which people in Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh can alert city officials about garbage fire, construction dust and other sources of air pollution.

People can upload images of pollution on the app, named Hawa Badlo (change the air), so that officials in charge of specific geographical locations can take action. The app was launched by the Environment Pollution Prevention and Control Authority (EPCA).

"The app seeks... citizens' participation in reporting incidents of leaf and garbage-burning, building and construction dust, and unpaved road dust," said Bhure Lal, the chairperson of the EPCA.

After the officials take action on the complaints, they will have to upload pictures of the steps taken by them. Through the app, the EPCA will generate weekly reports on the status of complaints and the action taken by the authorities.

The app is available on the Android and iOS systems.

"We expect the app to act as a mechanism for accountability, public information and public engagement," said Sunita Narain, the director-general of the Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) who is a member of the EPCA.

In an order issued in December 2015, the Supreme Court had directed the Delhi government to strictly enforce Central Pollution Control Board norms and ensure that solid waste is not burnt.

A CSE official said if the app proved useful in Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, it would be made available in other states as well.

An environmental analyst who requested not to be named said the response and actions by city officials to complaints were likely to improve only through higher investments in human resources and more funds to manage air pollution.
 
 
The Telegraph, 21 October, 2016, please click here to access